Congratulations to Clifford A. Wright on the publication of his new cookbook, the fun and fabulous "Hot and Cheesy" (Wiley). In honor of his twelfth recipe collection, Zester Daily hosted a cheesy extravaganza where we feasted on delicious dishes from his book while swaying to the jazz sounds of Steve Goldun. The over-flow crowd devoured stacks of grilled cheese sandwiches, trays of Jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and chorizo, bowls of lasagne with three cheese and ground walnut sauce, and squares of Syrian cheese pie, finishing the evening with bite-sized cheese cakes. While that may sound like cheese overload, it is a tribute to Clifford's cooking -- and liberal pours of bright French wine -- that the dancing continued into the night. The soiree's mascot -- our "udderly" delightful bovine friend Lucy -- provided the gravitas the event so richly deserved.

Back in 2006, I wrote a Page One profile of Rudy Kurniawan for the Los Angeles Times. The baby-faced 29-year-old from Indonesia was spending millions of dollars a month -- yes, a month -- on old wine at auctions in New York and Los Angeles. The wine world embraced him as the brother from another planet.  No one knew where his money came from. No one knew his family or friends. It was all a mystery. But, at least then, his checks didn't bounce. He was everyone's best friend.

I was prepared to be awed by Christina Kim's exquisite clothing when I arrived at her Dosa showroom in a downtown Los Angeles penthouse loft to join, perhaps, one hundred guests attending a fundraiser for Chez Panisse Foundation's Edible Schoolyards last Sunday.  The chic crowd of stick thin Westsiders lined up, first, to have Alice Waters sign her book commemorating the 40^th anniversary of her iconic Berkeley restaurant.  Later they joined the queue at the cash register to buy armloads of clothing made from scraps of recycled materials priced to emphasize the high cost of piecework.  $500 was not too much for this crowd to pay for a recycled fabric shawl.